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The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

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Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#171

Post by ripsawridge »

jph wrote: post #3

https://hbr.org/2018/03/cold-showers-lead-to-fewer-sick-days The link is an interview with the study author, and excerpts are below. This is the first high-level evidence showing that cold showers can benefit your health. People who took them for at least 30 seconds for one month called in sick 29% less than our control group — and 54% less if they also engaged in regular physical exercise. Participants who took the…

I'm interested, and will probably try it. But! I'll keep the # of sick days the same. They are wellness days, when I take care of other business.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#172

Post by ses1984 »

zhynn wrote: post #161
ses1984 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you ever measure the water temp? How cold is cold?

My water is 4-10C at its coldest. For me if it gets above 15C it doesn't have the same effect. As cold as possible is best.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could measure this and find if there's a point where colder water doesn't provide a benefit, or rapidly diminishing returns?

Wouldn't it be nice if there was evidence that 14C water conferred the same benefits as 4C water?

I know it would be way easier for me to suggest this as a habit to family if I didn't tell them, "yeah you just use water as cold as it goes, even in winter when your pipes are about to freeze".

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#173

Post by riku_iki »

GrayTextIsTruth wrote: post #141
overcast wrote: post #140

I haven't been to doctors, or taken any type of medication in 25 years. Rarely do I sick, and it's basically the sniffles that I can sleep off. I take long hot showers.

You’ve probably never had cancer either!

New study: hot showers prevent cancer!

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#174

Post by Dolores12 »

chownie wrote: post #79
Dolores12 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm also wondering if getting used to the cold might result in some form of slight weight loss Your body burns calories to keep its temperature - 36.6C. Another trick to force your body to burn calories is to drink cold water.

Note that "burn calories" in this context equates to a pretty negligable number, iirc it's ~25 calories per litre of ice water. You can make the same number with a long stair journey or 3 minutes on your bike.

lets say you drink a liter of 16.6C water per day. your body will heat 365 litres of water to 36.6C. Energy needed is (36.6 - 16.6) * 4200 * 365 = 30 660 000 joules ~= 7328kcal

its 2-week of intensive workouts for free.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#175

Post by SuoDuanDao »

bsaul wrote: post #5

i wonder if there are studies about hot bath. Onsen are extremely popular in japan, and i'm absolutely certain the relaxation you get from hot water is beneficial to health as well

I've only heard about them (I think from Dr. Rhonda Patric) but I believe that there are studies showing that extreme temperatures in either direction have positive effects.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#176

Post by carlmr »

watwut wrote: post #69
dardie wrote: post #61

Alternative hypothesis: The 79% who were able to complete the trial had already selected for 'grit', or folks who wouldn't skip a day's work for a minor ailment. To check, instead of just comparing the test group to the control group you would need to compare the test group to itself, before and during the cold shower period.

I can compare that on myself - I was very often sick (with common colds and such) and it got slowly better after I started cold showering regularly. Cold swimming (which should include showering with cold water if you follow guidelines) is not exceptional here and people do report improvements in immunity. That is common reason for starting it - you are often sick and this is last desperate attempt to make it better…

Maybe you just got mentally hardened. What you used to treat as a sick day now doesn't feel that bad. Not because you're less sick, but rather because a light cold doesn't seem so bad anymore.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#177

Post by hackerNoose »

m23khan wrote: post #113

Back in 1994, my Grandfather started off his day as always with taking a shower. Now, he suffered from high blood pressure and was in his 60s and he liked cold showers. Anyways, he ended up getting stroke/brain hemorrhage and died. Whether it was a co-relationship or not, as kids we were told from that point on not to take pure cold showers (at least let it be lukewarm). I personally want to take cold shower but this…

Most probably the high blood pressure had already caused the changes that lead to the stroke. If it was going to happen the time of highest physical stress was the most probable. You can make the same argument against exercise, but then it sounds even more false. Everything is a trade-off.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#178

Post by intellix »

michalu wrote: post #17

I've been taking cold showers exclusively for 11 years now. It doesn't get much easier but you'll get addicted to the great feeling after. It's similar to running or exercise, it sucks to do but you do it anyway because the benefits far outweigh the temporary discomfort. The trick for me was to never use warm shower again and never compromise ... only coldest water available counts. First thing in the morning. It mak…

Would you rather take cold showers every day for a year or catch the common cold a couple of times a year? I'd rather catch the common cold...

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#180

Post by rntksi »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #152
makapuf wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offtopic, but thats the first time I remember seeing an emoji on HN. Is that recent ? I assumed it was frivolous and judged kind of bad taste ; is it? (Real question in general, not talking about this specific comment!)

Most emojis are automatically stripped out. Apparently that one isn't. Edit: just tested, 🧐 is let through but others are not.

🧐 I'm sorry, I just had to try that.
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